Aaron Brooks, who went 12-3 for defending-champion Omaha during the regular season, gets the nod in Game 1. (Melinda Haas)

The race for the playoffs came down to the wire again in the Pacific Coast League as three of the four divisions were not clinched until the final weekend of play.

Omaha went from two games back of Oklahoma City to winning the division by 2 1/2 games, courtesy of a series sweep of Colorado Springs while the RedHawks were swept by Iowa in the season's final series.

The Storm Chasers will now face Memphis, which held off in-state rival Nashville for the American Southern Division title.

In the Pacific Conference, Las Vegas cruised to the Southern title, while Reno had to (and did) beat Sacramento head-to-head in four of five games to clinch the Northern crown. That sets up a battle of Nevada for the conference title.

The Redbirds and Storm Chasers have gone from division rivals to playoff rivals in the span of one season, something the PCL's 2014 realignment made possible.

Now for the first time in the PCL, a Cardinals affiliate will match up with a Royals affiliate in a Triple-A version of the I-70 rivalry.

"I know when Memphis came to town there were a lot of Cardinals fans here," Omaha manager Brian Poldberg said. "There's always going to be a rivalry here in the Midwest. We've just gotta go out and get it done -- it's what we've played all year for."

Omaha clinched its fourth straight Northern Division title late Saturday night in a rain-delayed victory over Colorado Springs. Last season the Storm Chasers won their division despite a losing record, a PCL first, and then went on to win not just the league championship but also the Triple-A Championship Game in Durham, North Carolina.

This season's Omaha squad is led on the mound by right-hander Aaron Brooks (12-3, 3.88 ERA), who will start Game 1.

The cities of Las Vegas and Reno have always had a rivalry of sorts in the state of Nevada. Now their baseball teams will look to capitalize on that when the 51s and Aces go head-to-head for a spot in the PCL Championship series.

In brief

Tough call(-ups): Of the four playoff teams, Omaha had it toughest when it came to losing key players to September call-ups. With the Royals leading the American League Central, the Storm Chasers shipped outfielder Carlos Peguero (.266, 30 HR, 76 RBI), infielder Johnny Giavotella (.308, 7 HR, 61 RBI, 20 stolen bases) and catcher Francisco Pena (.240, 27 HR, 61 RBI) to the bigs.

Red-hot Redbirds: Since the start of July, Memphis has gone 40-20 to completely turn its season around. The Redbirds went from 6 1/2 games out of first place to winning a division title for the fourth time in team history.

Battle born: The matchup of two Nevada teams in the Pacific Conference finals marks the first time in the modern PCL that one state will play host to an entire playoff series. The last time the PCL saw two teams from the same state meet in the playoffs was 1954, when all four postseason clubs hailed from California.

Chris Jackson is a contributor to MiLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.